About the Role
The role focuses on owning and growing a portfolio of merchant relationships while actively acquiring new merchants. It drives revenue through the management of existing accounts, cross-selling and upselling additional products and services, as well as ensuring the smooth onboarding of new merchants.
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Key Responsibilities
- Manage and grow an assigned portfolio of merchants, acting as their main point of contact and trusted advisor.
- Increase portfolio revenue through transaction growth, retention, and pricing and product optimization.
- Identify and sell additional products and services to existing merchants (e.g. e-commerce and payment gateway, value-added services, new acceptance channels and terminals).
- Source, pitch, negotiate, and close new merchants, and work with Onboarding, Risk, Legal, and Operations to complete onboarding smoothly and within agreed timelines.
- Build and maintain a healthy pipeline of prospects and opportunities and keep CRM records accurate and up to date.
- Conduct regular portfolio reviews and business reviews with merchants to understand needs, performance, and risks.
- Monitor merchant performance, volumes, and attrition signals, and act early to retain at-risk merchants.
- Coordinate with internal teams (Product, Customer Service, Operations, Risk, and Finance) to resolve merchant issues quickly.
- Ensure compliance with company policies, regulatory requirements, and KYC and risk standards in all merchant dealings.
- Prepare regular reports and forecasts on portfolio performance.
KPIs
- Portfolio revenue growth: revenue growth and retention of the managed merchant book against target.
- Cross-sell / upsell revenue and number of additional services sold to existing merchants.
- New merchant acquisition: number of new merchants onboarded, and revenue generated from them against target.
- Merchant retention: attrition and churn within the portfolio.
- Onboarding efficiency: time from signed deal to go-live.
- Pipeline and activity: pipeline value and conversion rate, plus merchant review coverage.
- Merchant satisfaction and compliance: satisfaction scores and adherence to policy and KYC standards.
Qualifications and Experience
- Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Marketing, or a related field.
- 4 to 7 years of experience in relationship management or B2B sales, preferably in payments, banking, fintech, or merchant acquiring.
- Proven track record of meeting or exceeding revenue and new business targets.
- Experience managing a client portfolio and cross-selling products.
- Knowledge of the UAE merchant and payments market is preferred.
Skills and Competencies
- Strong consultative selling, negotiation, and closing skills.
- Excellent communication and presentation skills in English & Arabic.
- Commercial and analytical mindset, with the ability to read portfolio data and act on it.
- Strong ownership, customer focus, and ability to work with multiple internal teams.
- Self-driven, organized, and able to manage multiple priorities.
- Proficiency in CRM tools and MS Office.
Additional Responsibilities
- Maintain and deepen relationships with existing merchant clients in the UAE SME segment.
- Identify and execute cross-selling and upselling opportunities for payment solutions and value-added services.
- Prospect and acquire new merchant accounts to achieve quarterly sales targets.
- Develop and present tailored acquisition proposals and pricing models.
- Monitor merchant performance and provide strategic recommendations to improve transaction volume and profitability.
- Prepare regular sales forecasts, pipeline reports, and performance dashboards for senior management.
- Negotiate contract terms and service level agreements with merchants.
- Stay informed on market trends, competitor activities, and regulatory changes affecting merchant acquiring.
- Represent at industry events, seminars, and networking functions.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Marketing, or a related field; MBA preferred.
- 5+ years of experience in merchant acquiring, payment solutions, or business development within the UAE SME market.
- Proven track record of meeting or exceeding sales targets through relationship management and upselling.
- Strong understanding of payment processing, POS systems, and digital payment ecosystems.
- Excellent communication, negotiation, and presentation skills in English; Arabic is a plus.
- Ability to analyze merchant data and translate insights into actionable growth strategies.
- Self-motivated, results-driven with a high degree of professionalism and integrity.
- Proficiency with CRM tools and Microsoft Office Suite; experience with Salesforce is advantageous.
- Willingness to travel locally within the UAE to meet clients and attend events.
- Knowledge of local regulatory requirements related to payment services and merchant onboarding.
